You Should Listen

The other day Steve and I listened to a BYU forum. The forums and devotionals are held every Tuesday at 11:00am at the Marriott Center. If its a visiting authority, they are called a devotional. If it is a professor they are called a forum. In October (Oct. 28th to be exact), they had a visiting professor from Princeton come and speak. His name was Robert George. His speech was entitled "On the Moral Purposes of Law and Government". It was excellent. You can listen to it here. I highly recommend it if you have the time.

I'm Back!

Yea! I finally have my computer back! There are still a few things I (really meaning Steve) needs to configure. I still can't send emails. And I can't find my documents or picutres. However, Steve reassures me they are there. I will take his word on it. Here are some pics of what we've been doing \: We have been raking and playing in leaves. Apparently, Eliza was doing more "playing" than helping because I don't have a picture of her. I think they are finally done! The few that are left won't kill the grass, so I think they may be mowed up in the Spring. Let the snow come! We have also been doing some sewing and making lots of crafts for the bazaar. I actually did some sewing and made new Christmas stockings! Yea for me! I feel so domestic! The toe looks deformed in the picture (maybe it really is)and I admit that I did use some fabric glue during the process. But I found the secret to sewing: patience and having a sewing machine that works! I am still working on the patience. I will post pictures of the girls items for the Beehive Bazaar soon. Eliza wanted to get in on the action, so we found some ornaments that she can make. They have turned out pretty cute! Now I want to make something for the boutique, but I have given away my best ideas to the girls! Maybe they will share. PS. Is any one else having problems with posting on their blog or is it just me? Its me isn't it?

Technical Difficulties

My computer is sick. It doesn't want to turn on - at all. So, for the next few days I will not have my computer to check email, finances,post pictures etc. Its amazing how dependent you become on technology. Hopefully, I will have it back up and running soon. In the meantime I am using one of Steve's laptops.

The Beehive Bazaar

The girls are going to be selling their jewlery and things at the Beehive Bazaar again this year. If you are in Utah or will be in Utah on these dates, you really should come and check it out. I doubt you have ever been to a boutique like this before! We will post pictures of thier things later . . . when we get them finished.

Leaves, Leaves, & More Leaves

Although this picture was taken last year, this is a glimpse of what our yard looks like daily. Our trees' leaves are always the last to fall. We have begun our daily raking and mowing leaves routine. We blow leaves, we rake leaves, and we mow leaves . . . a couple of hours later it looks like this again. In the front and back yard. It won't be long before the leaves fall too thickly and we can no longer mow them up. That's when the serious raking starts. This can go on for weeks. However, it snowed today. This usually means that as soon as it warms up again and the sun hits the leaves - they ALL drop. Think raining leaves.

The Infinite Power of Hope

Hope is a gift of the Spirit. It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior. This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment, and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace,mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet;it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Second Counselor in the First Presidency General Conference October 2008

Halloween Review

A picture of the table before our Halloween Feast, which has become a tradition thanks to Grandma C. Abigail informed me that this was her favorite part of Halloween. We ate Goulash in pumpkin bread bowls, with veggies and dip, plus a warm artichoke dip for the bread from inside the bread bowls, and juice with dry ice. Steve had been out of town until 5:30pm Halloween Night. He got home at 6:30 and we quickly ate so they could be trick or treating by 7:00pm. Oh! and he did get my old camera working for me- see he is good at fixing things! And I did find the pedal and power cord for the sewing machine an hour before dinner. No, I did not get them finished, but I used them anyway! I finished them 2 days after. Oh well!

The girls having fun carving pumpkins. We decided to have a theme for all of our pumpkins. We chose to carve words into them instead of faces.

Unfortunately, Steve was out of town when we carved pumpkins, so no power tools were involved this year. (This was taken last October - and yes he really did use his power tools) An example of our "word pumpkins"

Eliza, who was Little Orphan Annie. She was the easiest one to please in regard to her costume. I said, "Eliza, how about you be Annie for Halloween?" Eliza said, "Sure, I don't care. Who's Annie?" Then I sang. She got it.

Somehow this is the only picture I got of Amy in her pirate costume, which is covered up with her jacket and backpack. All the elementary school children wore their costumes to school so they were ready for the Halloween Parade.

Ruthie's 1st costume for the day, before we left at 8:45am for the Halloween parade at school. The ponytails were gone before we arrived, but I do have proof that I really did try to do her hair. 8:45am is too early to put a Halloween costume on a 2 year old, by 11:00am it was dripping wet (she was trying to help me with dishes) and was dirty as well. It didn't get washed in time for trick or treating.

Ruthie's 2nd Halloween costume for the day.

Lydia was a Greek goddess. We had an impromptu party with a bunch of her friends Halloween Night.

Abigail who kinda dressed up. She didn't like the eyeliner that I helped her put on before school. She thought it was "too much", so she took it off. Then on her way to a party that night she called and said, "Mom! I'm afraid I didn't dress up enough!"

PS Sorry for all the sideway pictures. Too tired to figure out why my computer is not cooperating.